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Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group

10) Drama, by Raina Telgemeier

Reasons: sexually explicit

(Editor's note: There are three books on the list that are non-fiction. They are It's
Perfectly Normal, a book for children on changing bodies, sex and sex
health, Persepolis, a graphic novel about a woman's childhood in Iran in the '70s and A Stolen Life, about a girl kidnapped as a child and held for
years by her captor/rapist. A book on puberty, a memoir and a book about the
courage to survive a hellish life, yes, those are books to be banned.)

Background

Each year, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the top ten most frequently challenged books in
order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and
schools. The ALA condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to
information.A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a
library or school requesting that materials be removed because of
content or appropriateness. The number of challenges reflects only
incidents reported. We estimate that for every reported challenge, four
or five remain unreported. Therefore, we do not claim comprehensiveness
in recording challenges.Top Ten List MethodologyThe Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged books list is compiled by the
Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and is based on anecdotal data
derived from media stories and voluntary reports sent to OIF about book
challenges in communities across the United States. Challenges are
documented requests to remove materials from schools or libraries, thus
restricting access to them by others. In some cases OIF may get numerous
details about who challenged a book, why they are complaining about the
book, what happened during the challenge, and the current status of the
book. In other cases, few details are supplied beyond the fact of the
challenge and the reasons for the challenge.

Sometimes OIF receives
information as the challenge is happening, and sometimes OIF receives an
online report years later. All of this can affect the total number of
challenges reported in any given year and how we inform the public about
those challenges. Thus the Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books
list should be seen as a snapshot of the reports OIF receives and not an
exhaustive report.

The goal of the Office for Intellectual Freedom is
to educate about individual censorship efforts and to inform the public
that censorship is still a very serious problem. Despite the best
efforts on the part of OIF to follow up on challenges and provide
support to institutions dealing with challenges, surveys indicate up to
85% of book challenges receive no media attention and remain unreported.Over this recent past decade, 5,099* challenges were reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom.

1,577 challenges due to "sexually explicit" material;

1,291 challenges due to "offensive language";

989 challenges due to materials deemed "unsuited to age group";

619 challenged due to "violence"' and

361 challenges due to "homosexuality."

Further, 274 materials were challenged due to "occult" or
"Satanic" themes, an additional 291 were challenged due to their
"religious viewpoint," and 119 because they were "anti-family."

1,639 of these challenges were in school libraries; 1,811 were in
classrooms; 1,217 took place in public libraries. There were 114
challenges to materials used in college classes; and 30 to academic
libraries. There are isolated cases of challenges to library materials
made available in or by prisons, special libraries, community groups,
and students. The vast majority of challenges were initiated by parents
(2,535), with patrons and administrators to follow (516 and 489
respectively).

Education Acroynms

Advanced Learning - SPS' three-tier program for advanced learners. Made up of APP, Spectrum and ALOs. (Note: the name of the district program is "Advanced Learning Services and Programs" but these three programs fall under "Highly Capable Services" of AL Services and Programs.

ALO - Advanced Learning Opportunity, the third tier of SPS' Advanced Learning program

AP - Advanced Placement. A national program of college-level classes given in high schools.

APP - Accelerated Progress Program. One of the levels of the Advanced Learning Program. NOTE: the name of this program is now "HIGHLY CAPABLE COHORT." This change occurred in 2014.

ASB - Associated Student Body. High school leadership groups.

AYP - Adequate Yearly Progress. Part of NCLB.

BEX - Building Excellence. SPS' capital renovation/rebuilding program that is funded via the BEX levy. Every 3 years there is the Operations levy and either the BEX or BTA levies as those two levies rotate in six year cycles).

BLT - Building Leadership Team. Staff members at a school who meet regularly to discuss building issues.

BTA - Buildings, Technology, Academics. The major maintenance/other capital fund for SPS. Originally BTA was to cover major maintenance like HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), roofs, waterlines, etc.) but now covers wide swaths of items like athletic fields, technology and funding academic needs.

CAICEE - Community Advisory Committee for Investing in Educational Excellence. Created by former Superintendent Manhas in 2008, to issue a report about reform recommendations for SPS.

CSIP - Continuous School Improvement Plan, the plan for improvement for each school as required by state law.

EOC - End of Course Assessments, given in math and science, required for high school graduationESEA - Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the federal law that governs education, includes the NCLB accountability provisions.

e-STEM or e-STEAM - STEM or STEAM curriculum with an environmental focus.

FACMAC - Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee. A district committee comprises of an all-volunteer citizen group created in 2012 to help bring research and ideas to capacity management issues in the district.

FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A federal law that protects students' privacy

FRL - Free and reduced lunch.

FTE - Full Time Equivalent

FY - Fiscal Year

Highly Capable Services - NEW name (as of 2014) as umbrella name for these programs: Highly Capable Cohort (formerly APP), Spectrum and ALO (Advanced Learning Opportunities).

HSPE - High School Proficiency Exam, state assessment that replaced the WASL for 10th graders, required for graduation

HQT - Highly Qualified Teacher, a standard set by federal law

IA - Instructional Assistant

IB - International Baccalaureate program. An international program of advanced classes that can either be taken as stand alone or as part of an overall IB program.

IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal law that governs special education

MAP - Measures of Academic Progress. A computer-based adaptive assessment made by NWEA and originally purchased by the district for use as a district-wide formative assessment but now used for a wide variety of purposes.

MSP - Measurement of Student Progress, the state proficiency assessment that replaced the WASL for students in grades 1-8

MTSS - Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

NCLB - No Child Left Behind, a provision of the federal education law, ESEA, introduced during the George W. Bush administration